Views and opinions from school counselors about the counseling profession

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

A Financial Aid Call to Arms for School Counselors

By: Patrick O'Connor PhD

The end of the college application season is here, and thanks to our friends at WikiLeaks, it comes with a twist. Soon after WikiLeaks published a series focusing on how it’s possible to hack just about anything, the federal government suspended the IRS Retrieval Tool so many students use to file for financial aid.

While this was done in the interest of keeping taxpayer information secure, students just deciding to apply for financial aid are finding more hurdles in their way—and there were plenty to begin with. It’s been possible to file for financial aid since October, but this is the first year filing started that early, so many students, families—and, ahem, counselors—aren’t used to the new calendar. That means many students (especially low income students, or students who are the first in their family to go to college), will be applying now, where they have to use their tax information from 2015.

Quick now—where is your tax information from 2015?

And that’s the problem. Without the retrieval tool, most people will be more challenged to find their 2015 tax information than they would trying to remember what they ate for lunch yesterday. Since this affects more first-time college attenders, this could be the game changer that leads them to decide not to bother applying to college at all; if you’re not sure you can afford it, why bother?

That’s where we come in. Thousands of students will be getting college decisions in the next two weeks, so we’re going to be plenty busy high fiving students who heard yes, and designing new plans for those students who didn’t. In the midst of that traditional mix, we’ll also have to keep an eye out for the late FAFSA filers, a challenge we didn’t think we were going to have.

Here’s what to do:

Make sure the student has applied to college. If they haven’t applied for aid til now, there’s a good chance they haven’t applied for college, either. The IRS tool is expected to be back up in a month, and giving them something to do until then can keep their college hopes up. Check and see if their applications are in.

If they have applied, have them contact the financial aid office. Counselors aren’t the only ones freaking out about the FAFSA disconnect, since financial aid offices can’t do much without applicants. Some colleges are developing Plan B for creating packages, relying on applicant’s best recollection of their taxes, using 2016 tax information, or some combination of both. Your student’s school may be one of those colleges, and if that’s the case, they can still give your student college cash. Calling them will help you—and the student—discover the answer.

Review Plan B. The IRS tool may be back online in late April, but many colleges will have given all their aid away by then. If a student’s top choice is a school that tends to run their funds dry by May 1, it’s time to make sure the student applies to a college that’s known to fund students who apply late. That’s usually colleges that have a smaller percentage of students on campus, and community colleges, but a phone call to the college’s financial aid office will let you know for sure.

Tell ED to fix this problem now. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos , 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington DC 20202. A letter there, encouraging the federal government to work with the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators to find a workaround, might help us reach a faster, better solution for all.